DRW50

Louie Batley gets a break in America...for her ugly outfit. (some spoilers) http://gofugyourself.celebuzz.com/go_fug_yourself/2009/09/fuglyoaks.html

Can anyone tell me what you thought of Virginia Vestoff when she filled in for Liz Hubbard on the Doctors? How long was she there? I loved loved loved loved loved Virginia on Dark Shadows and to this day I'm still upset that her only other soap work is unavailable.

Thank you for all the details. Was Lotty married to Curtis Alden? I was watching some of a 1989 episode on Youtube and Jack was charming Stacey on a train trip. Did he play Jack all along? Why did he leave? Perry Stephens seemed good from the little I saw. He reminds me of Simon Baker. Too bad Stacey didn't get to have a happy ending with him instead of dating Buck and getting killed. You never hear a lot about Stacey considering she was on the show from the start almost to the finish. That's funny about Grainger and Wikipedia. Who was Trisha's brother Rick?

OK. I haven't seen the recent episodes but I'm trying to keep up when I can. Rosie Webster started sleeping with factory boss Luke Morgan, not realizing that he really just wanted the money she'd gotten from the man who kidnapped her, John Stape (John gave it to her as a way to make amends). The one he really wants is Michelle. Rosie and Michelle got into a catfight over him. Michelle won. But Luke is on his way out and Michelle is getting a new love interest. John Stape is in prison but has been regularly visited by the love of his life, Fiz Brown. Fiz agreed to marry him, to the disgust of her family, but is now having second thoughts. Peter Barlow and his little son Simon found Leanne working as a waitress. They convinced her to return to Weatherfield and try again with Peter. I'm not sure if she knows he was in love with Michelle (aren't they all!) while she was away. Sean fell for a hunk named Leon. Leon had eyes for Jason. Through a confusing series of events, Sean convinced Leon that Jason was gay, but not available. Jason ended up entering, and winning, Mr. Gay Weatherfield, not knowing it was a gay thing. He has decided to enter the bigger competition because he wants the prize money. Jason and Leon now know the truth. I'm not sure if Leon has forgiven Sean. Emily became very close to Norris' brother, Ramsay. Everyone loved Ramsay, everyone but Norris, who was disgusted by the way people fawned over Ramsay and saw him as a saint. Ramsay suddenly died and Emily was heartbroken. Emily said everyone always pities the dead, but not the living who have to pick up the pieces time and time again. She said she's tired of picking up the pieces. Kevin and Molly are having an affair. Molly becomes very angry and insecure whenever Kevin is around his wife Sally. Becky and Steve married, but Becky was arrested on her wedding day after her old cop nemesis, Hooch, found stuff on her. The charges were dropped, but her old boyfriend is back in the picture and will probably be causing trouble. Maria and Tony are together and are raising baby Liam, but Carla is on her way back to town very soon.

Eric lost the factory due to money problems. It's now owned by two South Asian brothers. Their wild sister is also in town. Eric and Val now own half of the B&B, running it with poor Terry Woods. Speaking of Wyldes, the Wylde family is the big rich family on the show now, they moved into Home Farm after buying it from the Kings, who lost everything. The head of the family is Mark Wylde, his wife is Natasha. Their children are stuck up but insecure Nathan, wild child Maisie, and then Will, who is only about 9 or 10. He's friends with Belle Dingle. There's a huge secret hanging over Mark's head, as his real name is Daniel Lamb. He abandoned his wife, Faye Lamb, over 25 years ago, because he was tired of being poor. He did not know she was pregnant. Faye saw his photo in a magazine earlier this year and began stalking him. He brushed her off, and Natasha upon learning the truth threatened to send her to prison, then finally bribed her to stay away. Instead, Faye moved to Emmerdale with their son, Ryan. She is now sort of involved with Cain Dingle, who hates Mark. Mark told Natasha a few months ago about Faye and Ryan, but no one else knows. Ryan doesn't know either. He just thinks Mark is some married man his mother hooked up with. Meanwhile, Debbie, after being released from prison after the murder she helped cover up, got custody of Sarah, her daughter with Andy Sugden. She lives with her father, Cain. Cain is upset because she's dating a man named Michael who Cain does not trust. Recently Michael told Debbie that he was supposed to marry another woman, but he's truly in love with Debbie. Viv returned from prison, to a mixed reception from Bob. Bob had just slept with Gennie Walker, daughter of his business partner Brenda. Viv still doesn't know. Bob's son Jamie began dating Gennie, which made Bob nervous and jealous. Jamie soon learned the truth and washed his hands of Gennie and his father. Carl King was in a loveless marriage with Lexi King -- loveless on his part. Lexi was obsessed with him and wanted his child. She had an ecoptic pregnancy and learned she would struggle to bear a child. She wanted to do IVF but Carl didn't want to have a child with her. Nicola, who had gotten together with Jimmy and was near the end of her own pregnancy, told Carl to be a man and be honest with Lexi, who deserved better. Carl did tell Lexi, and she got so angry at Nicola that she accidentally caused her to fall down the stairs. Nicola went into labor and had a healthy little girl. She forgave Lexi, but Carl was nasty to Lexi. Lexi ended up going to the roof with the baby. She gave the baby back, but nearly jumped. Carl caught her before she fell. She finally decided to wash her hands of Carl once and for all. Carl then got involved with his old flame Chastity Dingle, even though she was living with the vet, Paddy Kirk, who adored her. When Carl told Paddy the truth, he threw Chastity out and humiliated her in front of everyone at the pub. Chas is now living with Carl, Jimmy, and Nicola, in a tense situation. Chastity's son Aaron, a teenage thug, is still living with Paddy (who dotes on him), as he despises Carl and sees Chas as a slapper. There's a new farming family, the Bartons. They moved into Andy Sugden's farm. After Jack died and Andy lost custody of little Sarah, he had a mental breakdown and let the farm fall into total disrepair. John Barton, his wife Moira, and their teenage son and teen daughters all live there now. Andy helps out. There was some drama as Moira incorrectly assumed he was interested in one of her daughters, but that was sorted.

What time frame do you want a recap of? Do you mean the past few years, or the past few months?

Did you see some of the past few years? The show has had some ups and downs, but it's OK. I think 2006 and 2007 were their best years, of what I've seen. I haven't really seen anything before 2005, minus a few clips. I do miss some of the humor and the students they had in 2005. I also miss Jessica Harris. The current students, most of the current younger characters, don't do anything for me.

Elliot, Zak, Archie, and Kris found money stuffed in a roof or something. Archie was then kidnapped and demands for the money were made. But I think this was a ploy and Archie was working to try to get all the money for himself. Newt is off his meds again and is a major suspect in the beating of Gaz, who is the nemesis of Theresa/Lauren/Anita/Newt. Steph is dating Fernando but Gilly is in love with her. Rhys was dating Zak's sister, Hayley, but her true feelings are for his brother Josh. Cindy is trying to marry Tony for his money. Darren for some reason managed to get Hannah to marry him. Sarah's girlfriend Lydia believes she still has feelings for Zoe. Ravi was put in a coma after Ash hit him, Ash hit him even though he knew Ravi had an aneurysm. When Anita lashed out at him, he spitefully told her what the family had hidden all her life -- she had been adopted.

How long were Teri and Luke on the show? I didn't think Luke was aroudn that long. Were they any good? It's a shame they made Gifford a lunatic. I thought he was a great character in those clips he had when Casey arrived. Do you think they made the right decision? I had no idea Mary Ryan Munisteri wrote for the show. I take it she wasn't around long? She wrote for RH for years. I think her headwriting stint there wasn't a success. So this Granger woman wasn't any good? I agree with you about Laura Wright. I always liked her as Ally, when I watched Loving/The City, and I liked her on her GL run, most of the time. I think what I miss in her later work is that she used to have vulnerability along with the toughness, and some warmth. Most of that is gone now, it's just the toughness.

I agree with you about the degrading writing for women on GL at that time. I still get angry at the memory of Marah ripping off her clothes and daring Tony to go through with his rape attempt. I hated the Cassie money problems story, I thought it was contrived, as was the feud with Reva, but I did think she and PAS had good chemistry. So Casey and Steffi were involved? I didn't know that. What do you think has happened to Amelia Heinle over the years? Didn't she seem better on Loving? Or was she just fresher? Can you tell me more about Casey's father, Gifford? I don't know that much about him. Did he come back when Casey was killed? Do you think the show did a very good job of adding new characters in the late 80s, or were most of them not that good?

I found Rauch's GL to be entertaining, at least more often than not (I didn't think the Lucky Gold stories were entertaining, aside from Lorelei, and minus the increased airtime for the wonderful Meta, the Labine year annoyed me more than anything else), but I do think he dumbed the women down. There was a lot of very insulting material for women, especially when B&E were there. The women existed just to fight over men or to have babies. I really hated what they did with Beth. The story which made me see red was when she chased after Matt and kept telling Vanessa she was old and unattractive. Rauch was obviously not hiding his Maeve Kinkead hate. What was done to Vanessa in those years was just sad. Then again, Laibson and McTavish also thoroughly weakened and marginalized Vanessa, and they had no bad blood with Maeve, so what can I say. I will say that I thought Rauch did a better job of giving Wendy Moniz material than Laibson/McTavish did. Wendy was not a heroine, she wasn't even that believable as an antiheroine, so making her a crazy b!tch was the way to go. I still laugh at the memory of Dinah unknowingly hitting on her uncle or Dinah running around town wearing a napkin on her face to hide her scar. I don't accept that as being what Dinah should have been, but I preferred her in that role compared to the Dinah who was supposed to be our heroine even though she gave Roger electroshock therapy. I also thought that the early Cassie, very tough and bitter but with a good heart, was much better than the one who gave her tiara to the poor. I think the biggest failure with GL in terms of women, in their later years, was what they did to Marah. Not just the Lindsey McKeon recast, but the writing for her. The memory of her showing her "strength", or whatever Rauch and Taggart called it, by ripping off her clothes and demanding Tony go through with his rape attempt ::shudder::

I don't want to generalize, but I do wonder if women have a very different reaction to Rita than men. I think Barbara Norris was supposed to represent a lot of the female viewer reaction to Rita -- expecting the worst of Rita, treating her with thinly veiled disgust. Did you ever see Lenore's Moonlighting episode? She was in one of the very early episodes. Something about weapon systems or something. She fired a big laser gun and she had big hair and rolled around on the floor with Bruce Willis and it was a hot mess. I can see why she left daytime but I wish she'd stayed, she was perfect for soaps. GL at that time seemed to have such complex female characters. I would love to sink my teeth into Amanda, Rita, Jackie, Holly. With the exception of the Rauch years and some of the Conboy period, I think GL was consistently the soap that had complex, dynamic women. Even when GL was in the pits, I don't think they went quite as far into the woman-hating that most soaps did, with a few exceptions. Even at the end, Reva, Dinah, they were complex women. I think that's what I miss about GL the most, as strong, complex women are what got me hooked on soaps.

I remember some people speculated that Rita was forgotten because the show was afraid people would confuse her with Reva. It's weird though that not only did she never return, she was NEVER mentioned, even though she was right there with Ed, Roger, and Holly in their big stories. Rita just fascinates me. Talk about an antiheroine! She, along with Dorian Lord, wrote the book on that. And has there ever been a sexier woman in soap? My uncle, who mostly teases people about soaps and sees them as being about women who don't leave home, still talks sometimes about how hot she was. You've probably already read this but I thought it was a good summation of her. http://glmemories.blogspot.com/2007/06/satisfaction.html

I was just watching some clips of Casey and Ally. Laura Wright and PAS had such great chemistry together (and it was nice to see Laura before she became so cold as an actress). I wish GL hadn't chickened out in their plans to put them together -- they still had good chemistry even as Danny and Cassie. I hope PAS can get a good soap job soon.

I wonder if we will see the kiss or if they will only show us the reaction of the person who finds them. They edited down the first kiss and have shown none since. I do like the actors and their chemistry but this story has been so rushed. I wish the people at Eastenders knew how to tell stories. They did in the past. Sharon/Grant/Phil built up for years. Instead we just have stunts and tired comebacks. The Masoods and Syed/Christian, along with Bianca's family, are the best part of the show right now, so hopefully they will keep developing them.

I would be more into this story with Christian and Syed if they weren't so rushed and if the actors were allowed to show any affection for each other. They have already said there won't be any more kisses. The main focus seems to be on Syed's family. Christian is a very small part. I'm sure they would bring Grant back if Ross Kemp was interested. I don't think that was true about Chris Fountain joining Eastenders.

I never knew Pam Long wrote for this show. That makes 3 canned soaps she was at.

Is that the one where she's in a taxi? That one some claimed was similar to the promo for Secret Diary of a Callgirl. Sam seems like such an odd character to bring back, but then EE doesn't know how to bring characters back properly anyway, with a few exceptions, like Bianca. I'm still baffled by how pointless Janine has been since her return.

Holy crap, Bonnie Tyler is going to be on Hollyoaks Later! http://www.digitalspy.com/soaps/a173893/bonnie-tyler-to-guest-in-hollyoaks-later.html

Thanks for the article. This is a real find. You always treat us. I remember Schmering writing about this in the Soap Opera Encyclopedia, and he said the woman who wrote it only knew how to write for radio soaps and had no idea what she was doing in a TV format. She later went on to headwrite Love of Life and was supposedly the deathknell for that show, as she wrote some Bambi Brewster story, a hooker with a heart of gold who wanted to find her minister father and learned he had abused her, that made the show the laughingstock of the industry.

Ricky Whittle (Officer Calvin Valentine), Ali Bastain (ex-Becca, currently on The Bill), and Laila Rouass (DI Dale Jackson before she moved to Footballers Wives) are all on this year's Stricly Come Dancing. Here's Ricky dancing:

No. The British soaps have varying styles. Emmerdale is more slow-paced, there's more comedy, more of a slow burn, more "old" people. For many years the show was about farming as much as sex or death. In recent years, starting around a huge plane crash in the village in 1995, the show has become more and more dramatic, although it still has something of its old country flair. Coronation Street is also more slow-paced, lots more comedy and older characters sitting around trading one-liners. They have tried to amp up the drama in recent years, there's more sex and violence now. Eastenders is more stunt stunt stunt, there's always a big death or revelation or affair, with a few bad comedy moments mixed in. The show used to be much more complex and rich but not in a long time. Hollyoaks is teens, issue issue issue, teens, wacky comedy moment, music video, teens. The Emmerdale lesbian wedding they were talking about was with Zoe Tate and one of her girlfriends. Zoe cheated with her girlfriend's ex-partner not long after the wedding, so no wonder RTD wasn't a fan Emmerdale had more gay content on their show than any other soap, UK or US. They had gay, bi, and lesbian characters consistently for almost 20 years. Unfortunately that has now stopped.

QAF, huh? That's interesting. Russell Davies is a big Corrie fan, he even wrote one of their video specials and nearly worked for them as a storyliner. He said he wanted that job for years but when he was offered, he turned it down because he realized if he took it he'd never leave. Perhaps he was just having a laugh at those who look down on soaps, or he sees Emmerdale as being inferior to Corrie. Emmerdale recently brought in a new producer to try to be less crap, or stodgy, or panto. They have a "sexy" new farming family (which basically seems to mean the father wears tight jeans and plunging shirts) and are clearing out some deadwood. It's not bad, although I didn't think the stories last year were bad either. They had a producer last year named Anita Turner who was treated horribly by the press. They called her "Anita Turnoff" and ran stories about how she fired extras and how she fired a child actor (she did this because he kept crying in scenes with the actor who played his father). I often wonder if a man would get that type of press if he behaved in a similar way. Something else I always remember about Emmerdale is early in this decade they brought in actors who won some Soapstar reality show. They made them a new family. I guess it's like an extended version of that "Wanna be a Soap Star" Soapnet did for a few years. Anyway, one of the show's leading actresses, who had been there for about 15 years, complained to the press. The family didn't last a year, but they also fired the actress. I wonder if they were just looking for an opportunity anyway. Do you ever get to see any of the British soaps?

Was that one of the Charlie Brooker shows? He tends to hate everything doesn't he? Emmerdale is often seen as stodgy and silly and a bit tired. Most of the British soaps are looked down on, although Eastenders, in spite of being seen as too depressing, sometimes gets critical acclaim when they do their much hyped "issue" stories. Corrie is also sneered at but is seen as an institution. Hollyoaks is sometimes praised but often seen as a shallow teen soap. I really enjoy Emmerdale, I think it's a much better show than it's given credit for and has done "issues" better than EE in recent years. You might want to look at some of the Debbie/Jasmine clips on Youtube, it's good soap. The cot death story they had last year was also very good. Here's the first part:

This sounds odd.